Mitsuki Sumoto | Page 3 | Golden Skate

Mitsuki Sumoto

surimi

Onward and forward, Sota!
Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2013
wow, that was an abrupt end of that interview. No Kenji-themed bag for Mitsuki, then? And I had no idea one could get motion sick while walking! Thanks for translating it all, Rainbow!
I hope Mitsuki's hip injury wasn't too bad. Good luck in the free! Are there protocols out there?
 

rRainbow

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 22, 2018
Country
Japan
Men's SP Protocol
https://www.jsfresults.com/National/2018-2019/fs_j/nationaljunior/data0103.pdf

About Kenji's interview, looks like Kenji's questions vary with guest skaters. Currently Sena Miyake's interview is being aired and they don't have any Q&A session at all. At the end of the interview Kenji gave Sena a custom design canvas tote bag. So I'm sure Mitsuki was given the bag as well but probably that part was edited out.

After reading the part 2, I felt the urge to sit down with him and tell him to EAT MORE. He should eat meals three times a day to build a strong body. He needs nutrition to build muscles and to increase stamina just like any other skaters. Hope he'll recover soon.
 

combo

Rinkside
Joined
Apr 10, 2017
:(

So sad that we wont see him at Japanese Nationals this year, as he finished 7th overall. Please rest and heal well, Mitsuki!
 

surimi

Onward and forward, Sota!
Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2013
I agree that Mitsuki has really surprising eating habits based on that interview; I hope his health doesn't suffer as he gets older because of that.
Get well soon! Health is more important than Nationals, and bad luck happens to skaters all the time. There's still time enough this season to rebound.
 

rRainbow

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 22, 2018
Country
Japan
Mitsuki announced in his tweet that he will turn senior next coming season. Good luck!
https://twitter.com/mitsuki130204/status/1141482720230379521
Translation:

My tweet has spread faster than I had expected…

Last season I felt very frustrated and I wanted to redeem myself staying in junior circuit. But as time has gone by my desire to compete on the senior stage has grown, and I’ve decided to turn senior.

I have nothing to lose. I will give my all at every competition.
I would appreciate your support.
 

surimi

Onward and forward, Sota!
Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2013
Mitsuki is such a well-spoken and thoughtful guy, I like him. Good luck to him in seniors! I'm rooting for either him or Koshiro to get that TBD spot.
 

surimi

Onward and forward, Sota!
Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2013
Today is Mitsuki's 19th birthday. Happy birthday, Mitsuki! :) I look forward to cheering for you at Coupe du Printemps next month, if I can go.
 

rRainbow

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 22, 2018
Country
Japan
An interview with Mitsuki on Quadruple Axel 2020 (6/18/20) available from these sellers:
USA: https://www.amazon.com/フィギュアスケート男子...+Axel+2020シーズン総集編+希望の銀盤&qid=1593195081&sr=8-1
Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/【Amazon-co...ruple+Axel+2020&qid=1593194944&s=books&sr=1-1

Translation of excerpts:

--There was a big change in your training environment during the off season. Could I ask you about it?
M: Yes, I’ve been training with Takeshi Honda sensei since February.

--How did you come to that conclusion?
M: Before the Japanese Nationals I was practicing at Chukyo rink, and it started when I saw Hoda sensei coaching Marin (Honda) and he impressed me. Afterwards I gave a lot of thought to it and by the time Inter-College Championships (early January) was over I decided that I wanted to be coached by Takeshi sensei. In February I talked to Takshi sensei, but I had to really push myself to ask him to coach me.

--It was a big milestone for you. About how many years did you train with (Yoshinori) Onishi sensei, your former coach?
M: About 10 years. He coached me with compulsory figures thoroughly and helped me build the essential foundation of skating. I’m really grateful to him.

--When I interviewed you (a group talk with Kazuki Tomono, Sota Yamamoto and Taichiro Yamakuma) on new year’s eve) Yamamoto senshu said he wanted to change his training environment. Were you thinking about changing a coach around that time?
M: At that time I simply felt that Sota was decisive and I envied him (laughs). But now that I think about it, Sota changing his coach might have given me the extra push.

--When did you get coached by Honda sensei the first time?
M: I asked him to be my coach in February, and he coached me from that day. He coached me something new and also explained to me the same thing in a different way, and it really gave me a fresh feeling. I’ve been training a quad starting from stabilizing a triple and this method has been working for me.

--Honda sensei is a skilled jumper so he is good at coaching the jump technique?
M: He coaches me with a different method which is in a way easy to understand for me, but he told me that because I had been trained properly by Onishi sensei, his coaching method was working for me. Takeshi sensei said he was applying what I had learned to the current training.
--So you are building on your past learning experience.
M: Takeshi sensei is telling me that I’m making progress, so I just need to trust him and do what he tells me to do.

--It is good that on the team Honda and Utako Nagamitsu, there are many skaters such as Taichi Honda and Sena Miyake, who can challenge each other.
M: I’ve known Taichi since we were little and I was glad he welcomed me saying “Let’s do our best together..” I’ve often been at the same competitions with Sena since we were novice skaer, and he is my good friend too, but I’ve rarely practiced together with him. Perhaps Chukyo was the only rink that I’ve seen him practice. But I felt pressure surrounded by many top skaters, so I didn’t go to Chukyo very often. That’s why I am really glad that from now on we can boost each other up. Together I want to keep working hard.

...to be continued
 

rRainbow

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 22, 2018
Country
Japan
Part 2
--In March you were supposed to go to the Coupe du Printemps, but it was too bad the assignment was cancelled because of the coronavirus.
M: Because it was an international competition, I wanted to earn points, and I also wanted to skate at a competition so bad, so I was really disappointed. But Takeshi sensei told me to be patient and do my best next year, and I became less frustrated and decided to do my best again.

--Another thing about the Coupe du Printemps from which the team withdrew is that you were scheduled to go there with Kazuki Tomono and Sota Yamamoto. Considering that, did you feel more disappointed?

--M: Quite a lot! (laughs) Since we were little we had spent time together at Rinkai (Sports Center), and I was really looking forward to going there with my buddies. When it came close to that date, we got in touch with each other and we were excited having chats like “Luxembourg (the venue) looks like a nice place?” and “There’s a park near the hotel.”

--It would have been a perfect opportunity for the three rivals since childhood to compete together at an international competition.
M: They may not consider me as their rivals yet (laughs). But I was very much looking forward to competing with them, and I was quite disappointed.

--Next, I would like you to reflect on this season. How was your senior debut season?
M: From beginning to end, it was the season neither good nor bad. But if I look at the results only, I got the 8th at the Japanese Nationals, the 2nd at Inter-College, and won the adult male category at the National Sports Festival, so it might have been a better season than I thought. Early this season, I never thought I would be able to skate in the third group of the free at the Japanese Nationals.

--You wanted to skate at the Japanese Nationals so badly?
M: After all, I had a burning desire to go to the Japanese National this year for sure! But I never thought I could get a single digit placement. I was 12th after the short so I had my heart set on delivering good performance in the free and fighting to the death for the placement that would ensure the federation’s support. I was relieved to get the 8th place so that I would remain supported, but I still regret that I couldn’t peak at the Japanese Nationals and I had to downgrade my jump layout of the free program.

--I enjoyed your great skate. Particularly the second half was beautiful and impressive.
M: The second half was full of my favorite moves like spread eagle (laughs). Actually I wanted to do the spread eagle at the end, but in order to fit the music better I ended the program with a jump.

--I would like to ask you about next season’s programs. Have you decided on anything or do you have any ideas?
M: I was planning to keep this season’s short (The Feeling Begins), but when Utako (Nagamitsu) sensei coached my steps I did a run-through of “Singing in the Rain” to refresh my mind. She praised me by saying “Your steps are solid and this is a good program,” so I am a bit undecided which one to pick (laughs). For the free program, I’m planning to make a new one, but since we cannot look ahead at all, we haven’t been unable to make any detailed plans. I will talk with Nanami (Abe) sensei and will get choreographed when our schedule works.

....to be continued
 

rRainbow

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 22, 2018
Country
Japan
Last Part
-Is there any music you want to skate to for the free?
M: If I can get choreographed I want “The Mission” or “Legend of 1900.” These days I’ve been watching many skating videos and when I watched “The Mission” by Mai Mihara-chan, I wanted to skate to it. “Legend of 1900” was used by my team mate Takeru (Kataise) chan, and I liked the music quite a lot. These two pieces are the ones I want to skate to some other time if I cannot do it this year. I would like you to look forward to it.

--Both seem to be a good fit for your skate.
M: I hope Nanami sensei will come up with various ideas. But since we are under special circumstances, I cannot rule out the possibility that I may keep “IlPostino (Mi Mancherai).” In that case the choreography needs to be adjusted to add a quad, so I would like to talk with Nanami sensei about that as well.

--The quads you have are the toe loop and salchow, isn’t it.
M: To be honest I want to add the (quad) salchow, but at this moment my goal is to add two quad toe loop jumps. Right now I’m better at the quad toe loop than the triple axel.

--Looks like you’re naturally good at it. Your jump rotates with a tight axis and is beautiful. How did you acquire the technique?
M: I wonder how (laughs). (After thinking a little bit) Probably Sota, who practiced with me at Rinkai Sports Center, influenced my skating skills and how I jump up to an axis. I grew up watching him since I was a little kid, so I might have absorbed things naturally. Also, I made progress thanks to Machida (Tatsuki) kun. They had a big impact on me since they were close to me and good examples for me.

--You had a wonderful relationship with them. Now, what is your goal for next season?
M: Next season I want to skate the programs with the quad (toe loop) without mistakes. Also, Takeshi sensei is telling me to aim for the Universiade and the Four Continents Championships during the season, so I do my best aiming high.

THE END
 

surimi

Onward and forward, Sota!
Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2013
Thank you for the interview excerpts! Mitsuki is such a down-to-earth, modest, well-spoken boy. I like him, and hope he has a nice season ahead of him. I also like that Honda sensei kept praising Onishi sensei's work. I wonder who remains in Onishi's camp?
 

rRainbow

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 22, 2018
Country
Japan
Q&A: Quadruple Axel 2020 (June, 18, 2020)
Translation:

Q: Describe your personality
Mitsuki: In short, I hate to lose.

Q: If you were an animal what would you be?
Mitsuki: I would be a bear in that usually I’m not watchful but I can concentrate when it comes to the crunch. Appearance-wise, I would be a herbivore [laughter].

Q: What was the most nerve-racking incident in your life?
Mitsuki: 2017 JGP Final. It was my first big international competition and at the arena I saw lots of Japanese flags waving among a large audience. Wow, I was overwhelmed, and when I heard my name called I got goosebumps and I said to myself “I’d better give it all I’ve got.”

Q: What do your costumes mean to you?
Mitsuki: As I rarely wear a costume in practice, I feel happy when I’m in costume at competition. My favorite is “The Feeling Begins.” I got my inspiration from Taichi Miyata-kun’s “Gradiator” costume and I asked my designer what I wanted for the first time.

Q: Right after you come back from overseas competition, what food do you crave the most?
Mitsuki: I want to eat white rice for sure, especially sushi. My favorite types of sushi are tuna and shrimp.

Q: If you had not chosen to be a skater, what would you be doing?
Mitsuki: I like physical activity so I would be trying my hand at various sports and would be just a so-so player. Since around February I’ve been hooked on golf so much that I installed a hitting net and a turf mat. As I cannot go out now, this hobby turned out to be a good one [laughter].
 

surimi

Onward and forward, Sota!
Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2013
Thank you for the interview, Rainbow!
I cannot imagine anything bear-like about Mitsuki ^ ^ But I see what he means about focusing when it matters.
So... Mitsuki's aversion to hot meals continues I guess? ^ ^
 

rRainbow

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 22, 2018
Country
Japan
Mitsuki remade his twitter account. Looks like he deleted his old account and created a new one. Here is his account. https://twitter.com/mitsuki130204

He says he had a lot of fun at the Onsen Club talkshow the previous day and that he had dyed his hair for the first time in his life.

He also announces the upcoming Onsen Club online talk with Kazuki on Aug. 23. 400 tickets will be sold.
 

surimi

Onward and forward, Sota!
Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2013
Mitsuki remade his twitter account. Looks like he deleted his old account and created a new one. Here is his account. https://twitter.com/mitsuki130204

He says he had a lot of fun at the Onsen Club talkshow the previous day and that he had dyed his hair for the first time in his life.

He also announces the upcoming Onsen Club online talk with Kazuki on Aug. 23. 400 tickets will be sold.

Maybe he turned his old account private like Sota had done, and created a new public one? Anyhow, it's so nice of him to have a photo of himself with his skating friends as a profile photo!
Also, he seems to be saying something about a summer holiday in one of his recent posts?
Good to see Mitsuki so active.
 

rRainbow

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 22, 2018
Country
Japan
Maybe he turned his old account private like Sota had done, and created a new public one? Anyhow, it's so nice of him to have a photo of himself with his skating friends as a profile photo!
Also, he seems to be saying something about a summer holiday in one of his recent posts?
Good to see Mitsuki so active.

He tweeted that he finally finished his homework assignments on that day (Aug. 10) and his school summer vacation started. He added he wished he could have gone out to have fun. Another poster said it's too bad Mitsuki's vacation would be only for about 10 days. Looks like his college was once closed during emergency declaration and reopened after the declaration was lifted. Therefore his school schedule was pushed back and he only had a very short vacation.
 

rRainbow

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 22, 2018
Country
Japan
Interview with Mitsuki at the Japanese senior training camp on 07/21/20
https://www.nikkansports.com/sports/news/202007210000618.html

--How is your training at this camp going?
M: I changed my coach in February. My former coach and my current coach use somewhat different coaching methods. I still cannot jump perfectly the way my current coach tells me to do, so I am working hard on my jumps to build muscle memory.

--When did you resume on-ice training?
M: For about one and a half months I couldn’t practice on ice. I restarted my on-ice training in early June.

--How is your physical fitness?
M: It’s not perfect but I’m slowly getting back my stamina and muscle strength. I’ll keep working hard to get ready for the new season.

--How did you work out during the time you self-isolated?
M: I did land training. To be specific, I did exercises such as running fast uphill and core exercises which I had never done before. It was my first time doing these exercises every day.

--Did your thoughts about skating change?
M: While I was in self-isolation I tried my best not to think about skating, otherwise I would have worried about it. During that time I put it on the back burner. Right now I’m really enjoying practicing.

--What are your SP and FS and who are your choreographers?
M: Both SP and FS are choreographed by Nanami Abe sensei. SP is “The Feeling Begins,” the same as last season. My free is “The Mission” from the movie soundtrack.

--Are you training anything new?
M: It’s not something new, but I need to stabilize my quad(s) and triple axel. I will keep training to be able to, firstly, bring one or two types of quads in the program.

--This is the pre-Olympics season. How motivated are you?
M: If I don’t improve, I cannot even set the Olympics as my goal. This year and each year until the Olympics season, I want to practice hard aiming for good results.

--How do you like your new environment?
M: I am stimulated by the practice which I haven’t done before. I have less practice time than before but I am getting more focused training.

--What are the things your coach tells you to fix?
M: Takeshi sensei points out my jump issues such as the way I tighten my arms and the rotational speed to be increased. He tells me that unless I fix these, I won’t be able to stabilize the quad.

--How is your training coming along?
M: Things are different now from the time I was able to skate all the time. As I’ve gone through the pain of not being able to skate, now I practice a little more intensively. I suppose I’ve made a bit of progress.

--What do you want to showcase in your SP and FS?
M: Since I reuse my last year’s SP, I want to polish my program to be better than last year. We added somewhat unique movements, and I want to showcase my unique choreographic sequence which I couldn’t do last year. Since my free is “The Mission,” I want to deliver a memorable performance even if the competition is held online.
 

rRainbow

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 22, 2018
Country
Japan
This year’s Gensan Summer Cup was cancelled, but one year ago Mitsuki was a Junior Men’s champion at Gensan Summer Cup (8/9/19– 8/12). SP protocol: FS protocol:
An old interview with Mitsuki after the free on Aug. 12, 2019
http://yumiyo.myjournal.jp/archives/20673019.html
Translation:

--After two axel jumps you hit the rest of the jumps.
M: Umm, in practice I skated almost clean except for the axel and quad jumps. I downgraded technical content a little but I am glad that I was able to do what I could in practice.

--I understand you will turn senior after this competition. How would you like to make use of this experience?
M: In the senior field I’ll have nothing to defend, so I want to strengthen my skate aiming to bring more than one quads in the program.

--What do you want to improve the most?
M: I reviewed my performance after watching and studying seniors’ performances, and I realized my skate was still more or less at junior level. It is most important for me to step it up to the senior level. Also I want to add a quad. I can land it in practice but it will be meaningless if I cannot land it in competition. I am trying to bring up the success rate to nearly 100%.

--In this event the winner is awarded meat.
M: I would be lying if I said I didn’t have my eye on the meat, but I was not thinking about it a lot this year. Although Tsuboi (Tatsuya) senshu couldn’t make it this time, the reason why I entered this competition as a junior was because I wanted to compete with him one more time. I am disappointed about that but I’m glad I had a good result.

--You will be in the senior circuit for the Challenger series. How do you want to train as a senior?
M: As expected, building stamina and body is most important for me and I want to be able to master the triple axel and multiple quads.

--Your quad toe loop is nearing completion?
M: I can somehow land it in practice, but looks like other quads need more time. I’ll keep working hard.

--What about training quads other than toe loop?
M: On my good days I train flip, loop and salchow. I want to learn lutz but doing so messes up my triple because I confuse triple with quad. So I will train lutz much later. I’m working on the loop and salchow a lot and would like to keep training these jumps.

--You’re going to enter the Challenger series as a senior for the first time.
M: Last year I competed at Asian Open as a senior but the result was a bitter disappointment. As I had gone to the competition not expecting such a placement, I was even more upset. But this season I have nothing to lose, so I want to challenge myself in the short and the free.
 
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